Corn is a delicious and nutritious food, it is also widely used in the manufacture of sweeteners and animal feed. In fact, corn is worth noting more than just these. As technology advances, scientists have found that corn can not only make feed but also make plastics!
Traditionally petroleum-processed plastics have been discarded and, because they are difficult to decompose, create environmental pollution. Plastics made from corn do not have this problem because they can be easily broken down into organics under natural conditions. According to this feature, people began to try to use corn as raw materials, processed into a variety of disposable supplies, such as cups, plastic bags, commodity packaging and so on.
Many large companies are optimistic about this new environmentally friendly material. Coca-Cola used 500,000 disposable cups at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, all made of corn plastic. The cup disappeared in the open air in just 40 days.
The famous Japanese electrical manufacturer, Sony Corporation, has been packing MD disks with plastic paper made from corn for two years. The new packaging is as beautiful as the previous packaging, but it will not produce the "durable" adverse effects.
You may ask: How did corn become a plastic product?
Visit the corn plastics factory of Cargill Road Co., Nebraska, USA and you will see the whole process of turning corn into plastic. First of all, the sugar in the corn is extracted, and carbon, which is the base material for making plastics and fibers, is extracted through fermentation and distillation, and then processed into a fine particle with a diameter of 4.57 mm called polylactide (PLA). Finally, these small particles are pressed into bags, foam or tableware.
According to Cargill Dow, corn, one of the major agricultural products in the United States, has ample supply, and it will not be a problem to extract 1 billion pounds (454 million tons) of polylactide each year over the next decade. This means that one-tenth of the U.S. corn production will be made into plastics and fibers.
Perhaps seeing the bright future of this new material, DuPont, the giant in chemical production, has also joined the ranks of developing corn plastics. The company’s research also received US$19 million in financial support from the US Department of Energy.
Randy Klein of the Corn Bureau of Nebraska said corn plastic is a true green material. A plastic bag made from corn can be naturally degraded in only about one month, while products processed with petroleum are “hardened†and have to exist in nature for centuries.
Although corn plastic is very beneficial to environmental protection, it also has a significant disadvantage - expensive. The price of corn plastic plates produced by the North American Biological Company is about 5% higher than that of traditional plastic plates, and the price of cups is 25% higher. However, the company's president, Frederick Hill, believes that within five years, as the demand for corn plastics increases, the scale of production will expand and costs will drop.
Traditionally petroleum-processed plastics have been discarded and, because they are difficult to decompose, create environmental pollution. Plastics made from corn do not have this problem because they can be easily broken down into organics under natural conditions. According to this feature, people began to try to use corn as raw materials, processed into a variety of disposable supplies, such as cups, plastic bags, commodity packaging and so on.
Many large companies are optimistic about this new environmentally friendly material. Coca-Cola used 500,000 disposable cups at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, all made of corn plastic. The cup disappeared in the open air in just 40 days.
The famous Japanese electrical manufacturer, Sony Corporation, has been packing MD disks with plastic paper made from corn for two years. The new packaging is as beautiful as the previous packaging, but it will not produce the "durable" adverse effects.
You may ask: How did corn become a plastic product?
Visit the corn plastics factory of Cargill Road Co., Nebraska, USA and you will see the whole process of turning corn into plastic. First of all, the sugar in the corn is extracted, and carbon, which is the base material for making plastics and fibers, is extracted through fermentation and distillation, and then processed into a fine particle with a diameter of 4.57 mm called polylactide (PLA). Finally, these small particles are pressed into bags, foam or tableware.
According to Cargill Dow, corn, one of the major agricultural products in the United States, has ample supply, and it will not be a problem to extract 1 billion pounds (454 million tons) of polylactide each year over the next decade. This means that one-tenth of the U.S. corn production will be made into plastics and fibers.
Perhaps seeing the bright future of this new material, DuPont, the giant in chemical production, has also joined the ranks of developing corn plastics. The company’s research also received US$19 million in financial support from the US Department of Energy.
Randy Klein of the Corn Bureau of Nebraska said corn plastic is a true green material. A plastic bag made from corn can be naturally degraded in only about one month, while products processed with petroleum are “hardened†and have to exist in nature for centuries.
Although corn plastic is very beneficial to environmental protection, it also has a significant disadvantage - expensive. The price of corn plastic plates produced by the North American Biological Company is about 5% higher than that of traditional plastic plates, and the price of cups is 25% higher. However, the company's president, Frederick Hill, believes that within five years, as the demand for corn plastics increases, the scale of production will expand and costs will drop.
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